Branding, Brand and Brand ID - What’s the difference?
When a potential Personal Branding or Corporate Branding client gets in touch the first thing they always ask for is a logo. “I just need a logo because I am launching 'XYZ' product/service next month”.
OK… hold up… there’s quite a few things we need to do first before a logo sees the light of day. Let's take it back to the very beginning.
So, you want to launch and grow your Personal Brand or Corporate Brand. A brand is not a logo, a set of colours, a font, or an image.
Those items make up your brand and exist in your branding strategy, but your brand is not your logo.
It’s super important to know the difference between Branding, Brand and Brand ID. It's no wonder people get confused, most designers don’t even understand the difference between Branding, Brand and Brand ID, and then how they roll into sales, marketing and advertising, so how are you supposed to get it?
Let me help you to understand...
People often think their brand is a logo...
And branding is sticking that logo on their stuff...
And that's part of it, but branding is way more than that. Let's break it down...
Your Brand:
Your brand is made up of the following elements:
Vision
Mission
Values
Purpose
Brand Promise
Product
Service
Price
Positioning
Customer relationship
Personality
Brand Story
Customer Journey
Perceptions
Expectations
Logo
Colours
Imagery
Typography
Messaging/language
Your fashion/style
Your brand represents the relationship that you or your company have with your target audience. It's what your audience thinks that counts!
However, people often get super confused with the terms Brand and Brand ID (Identity). Clients will say "we need a new brand" - meaning that they would like a fresh logo, or "Do you do branding?" - meaning, can you put my logo on my truck.
As you will see below, the 'Brand ID' elements also come into your 'Brand' listed above, so the Brand ID makes up the Brand, but a Logo is just one Brand ID element.
Using visual identity, your brand describes who you are, what you do, and why you exist. It's how your customers identify and recognise you, and how they get to know you.
Your Brand ID:
Your Brand ID is made up of some of the elements listed above, and forms part of the overall Brand, but the unique elements of a Brand ID are:
Logo
Colours
Imagery
Typography
Messaging/language
Take a look at the diagram below... All 4 circles make up the overall Brand, but the last circle makes forms the Brand ID. It's often the visual aspect of the brand.
So you can see why people get it confused, but when you see it like this, it makes it easier to understand.
Branding:
So now we understand the difference between Brand and Brand ID, lets talk about Branding.
Branding is the strategy that pulls everything (all four circles) together. The key to successful branding is to align what you think people think about your brand, with what they actually do think.
Branding is:
How your company, product or service is positioned in the marketplace.
The strategy behind achieving your goals.
The way someone feels when they have interacted with your product or service.
Your reputation.
Your customers' expectation of your product or service.
How you want to be perceived.
How someone talks about your product or service to their friends and family.
““Every interaction in any form is branding” — Seth Godin
So… Who Owns the Brand then?
The responsibility for ensuring the Brand is ingrained in every single touch point a client has with your brand lays with the CEO/Business Owner, however, the client or customer owns the brand.
What??? Why does the customer own my brand?
Because put simply, and I mentioned it before... It's what they think that counts. The success of your brand relies entirely on how your audience perceives, uses and talks about your brand.
That is why it is so important to get everything right from the word go. If there is any misalignment with the rollout of your brand, your customer will find it, and it will breed mistrust.
You need to know your brand inside out, so that you can live and breathe it. If you have staff they need to live and breathe it too.
So if you don't start at the beginning, getting the fundamentals right, at the end of the day your customer will find fault with what it is that you do or offer, so spending the time to get this all right pays huge dividends in the end.
So what do you do first?
You now know the difference between Branding, Brand and Brand Identity, so before you go and get a logo done and launch your Facebook Page, your Instagram Account or your shiny new website, make sure you spend time really digging deep into what your brand represents, how you want your customers to feel when they use your product or service, and then how you want people to talk about you or your brand.
To start at the very beginning and get it right the first time you should consider doing:
A Complete Brand Discovery session to uncover everything the world needs to know about you or your company
Develop your Vision, Values, Mission and Purpose
Really define who your target audience is
Create your Brand Identity
Craft your messaging
Build out your Branding Strategy
Then consider launching your products and services.
At last but not least, the care doesn't stop once you have made the sale. Have a customer ascension program so that you can follow up, get feedback, get reviews, and celebrate your customers wins.
SO...DON"T GET YOUR LOGO DESIGNED FIRST!!!!! Not yelling, just a massive reminder ;)
I wish you all the very best with your next brand launch, and if there is anything I can help you with connect with me below...
I specialise in helping business owners like you create status-elevating visual brands that stand out from the crowd, attract the right customers and create more sales.
Let’s Connect!
I hope you enjoyed this blog post. If you have any questions about Canva, branding or personal branding, connect with me.
If you are just getting started, here’s some ways I can help you:
Grab my Free Resources and Templates on my Freebies page.
Grab my Ebook “Zero to Branded”. This comprehensive guide will help you to launch and grow your personal brand so you can share your gifts with the world.
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